For just over an hour leading up to the University’s big hockey game against the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes, another team of Falcon student athletes set up shop just inside the doors of the ice arena.
The softball team battled a different sort of foe on Friday night. They were literally, as the name would suggest, “Falcons Fighting Hunger.”
All throughout this past month of November, various athletic programs at the University have been participating in the annual Falcons Fighting Hunger food drive.
The effort, which is largely organized by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee [SAAC], is used to collect both canned goods and monetary donations for the BG Christian Food Pantry.
“They service so many families,” said Marissa Tashenberg, a graduate assistant in student-athlete services and coordinator for the food drive.
In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, this time of year often has an increase of those in need, she said.
Carmen Young, a senior member of the swim and dive team, as well as president of SAAC, said seeing all the athletes interact with the community while giving back has been a great experience.
Young stressed just how important charitable efforts like this are and how these contributions from the University’s athletes allow those values to standout among the student population.
“They’re really taking the time out of their busy schedules to come out and give back to the community,” she said.
Tashenberg said she liked people
working together.
“I liked the merging of BG, the athletics and the community, all together,” she said. “And to be able to see we are one town and we’re working together for everything.”
The Falcons Fighting Hunger food drive not only brought together that city and campus-wide corporation for this singular good cause, but it also strengthened that sense of community through the positive interactions, they said.
“I think that’s something that the athletes understand,” Tashenberg said. “And our athletes enjoy doing it. Getting their face out there, thanking people that come watch them play every week and hearing, ‘Oh my gosh, we see them at our games.’”
But the volunteers and coordinators also said they recognize that not every at these sporting events will be carrying around a spare can of food.
“I think we’ve been getting a lot more monetary donations,” said Emily McClelland, a senior member of the softball team. “That’s usually how it is. Students don’t usually throw tons of cans in their pockets.”
Tashenberg said the problem is not everyone knows about the food drive.
“Not everyone’s going to know about the food drive and others aren’t going to want to carry around a bag of canned goods from their dorm to get into the stadium,” Tashenberg said. “But they are always extremely generous after that. Just any little thing they could give, I think they have tried.”
Even so, the drive has still remained successful.
“We’ve been doing it every year and I think every year it gets more and more successful,” Young said. “We bring in more money and more cans every year.”
